Embedded Rust on RISC-V Part 1

This course guides you through the process of booting a RISC-V processor using Rust, culminating in a fully functional Embedded Rust application on the Hifive1-Rev B board. We'll start with the essential building blocks and navigate the development workflow from setup to execution.

What You'll Learn:

• Rust for Embedded Systems: Dive into the world of embedded development with Rust, a modern and safe programming language.
• Cargo Workspaces: Master code management using Cargo workspaces, a powerful tool for organizing projects with multiple crates. Learn to create binary and library crates for efficient code reuse.
• Embedded Rust & Cargo Configuration: Configure your Cargo workspace for the RISC-V target architecture. Understand Rust attributes and the differences between Cargo.toml and configuration files.
• RISC-V Target Setup: Learn how to configure Cargo to build specifically for the RISC-V architecture, including passing custom flags to the Rust compiler and utilizing custom linker files for the Hifive1-Rev B board. (Note: This course provides a downloadable linker file, but does not cover linker file creation.)
• ELF & RUSTFLAGS Manipulation: Extract valuable information from ELF files and leverage RUSTFLAGS to fine-tune compiler behavior and add custom linker files.
• RISC-V Boot Code: Implement simple RISC-V boot code using assembly language. Learn to disable interrupts, set the stack pointer, and seamlessly transition control from assembly to your Embedded Rust entry point. (Boot.S file provided - updated Dec 5, 2024)
• UART Driver Development: Develop a UART driver in Rust to enable serial communication. Understand structs and implementations in Rust, and learn to interact with the UART hardware.
• Hardware Debugging: Connect to the Hifive1-Rev B board using OpenOCD and GDB for debugging and serial communication. Read messages from the serial output using standard serial tools. (OpenOCD script provided - content not covered)

Course Structure:

• Section 1: Introduction - Overview of the course content, resources, and expectations.
• Section 2: Cargo Workspace - Creating and managing Cargo workspaces, including binary and library crates, and dependency management with Cargo.toml.
• Section 3: Embedded Rust and Cargo Settings for RISC-V - Configuring Cargo for the RISC-V target, utilizing Rust attributes, and customizing compiler flags.
• Section 4: Commands to Dissect ELF and RUSTFLAGS - Extracting information from ELF files and using RUSTFLAGS to control compiler behavior.
• Section 5: Simple RISC-V Boot Code (Binary Crate) - Implementing basic RISC-V boot code in assembly language and integrating it with Embedded Rust.
• Section 6: UART Driver in Rust (Library Crate) - Developing a UART driver in Rust for serial communication and connecting to the Hifive1-Rev B board.

Prerequisites:

Basic familiarity with Rust is recommended.

Resources:

Downloadable linker file and OpenOCD script provided.